Cape Town tops New York Times’ "52 Places to go in 2014" list

Cape Town has been named number one on the prestigious New York Times’ 52 Places to go in 2014 list, beating Christchurch in New Zealand (#2) and California's North Coast as well as - just to name a few - the likes of Los Angeles, Perth, Rotterdam, Taiwan, Frankfurt. Namibia also made it to the Top 10 on the list; South Africa's northern neighbor was ranked 6th out the 52 places on the list. 

The New York Times says that the reasons for selecting Cape Town are the following:

• Cape Town's importance to Mandela
• Cape Town is the World Design Capital 2014
• The Design Indaba conference in February 2014
• The Maboneng Lalela Project, which turns township homes into galleries and performance spaces
• Foodpods, which constructs sustainable farms, giving residents access to healthy produce
• The Langa Quarter project, which seeks to make the precinct a cultural tourism destination

The New York Times says that the reasons for selecting Namibia are the following:

• Namibia's communal conservancy movement 
• "Gift to the Earth Award" from the World Wildlife Fund 
•  The Namib Sand Sea Desert joined Unesco’s World Heritage list
• The Desert Rhino Camp, which Wilderness Safaris runs in partnership with the Save the Rhino Trust
• The Namibia Tourism Board is introducing three self-drive routes in 2014 to point visitors toward less-visited parts of the country

In total, six places in Africa made it to the New York Times’ 52 Places to go in 2014 list: Cape Town (#1), Namibia (#6), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia, #13), Laikipia Plateau (Kenya, #19) Seychelles (#27) & Dar es Salaam (Tanzania, #39).